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Tinker

Tinker

For any who would like to place a hidden footnote to their poem posted in Member Poetry or Overflow Member Poetry, post the footnote as a reply to this thread then link URL to your poem. It takes a little back forth action and copying and pasting urls but it can be done and it will keep your poem page clean of extra "stuff". Here is a blow by blow of how to do it.

Post your poem.

Copy url of your poem

Come to Member Archives, access this post and reply by entering the name of your poem and whatever additional information about your poem you choose.

Highlight the name of the poem

Click the "link" icon above (it is first in the 2nd group of icons)

Paste the url in the link popup window in the first text box and the highlighted poem name will show in the second text box. If you didn't highlight the title then enter the name of your poem in the second text box manually. Insert into post.

Post

Select the icon in the top right of your post between "Report this post" and the select box. It looks like a triangle without one side with circles at the tips. If you move your mouse over the icon it says "share this post". Click on the icon and it will provide a url.

Click on that URL and copy.

Click on the link to your poem and edit your poem to add a link at the bottom of the page pasting the "footnote" url in the first text box of the popup window and in the second text box type "Note" or "Footnote" or whatever word you think encourages the reader to read further. Insert into post.

Post

Now you have a link to your footnote from your poem and a link back to your poem from the footnote. It isn't as complicated as it may appear at first.

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This was written in 2011. At that time a child died every 15 minutes in Zimbabwe. Once known as the "bread basket of Africa" the farm lands lie fallow and unworked, taken from the farmers and given as prizes to the military vets who fought the revolution. Life expectancy is now age 45 and unemployment is 80%. AIDS and starvation are rampant. The inflation rate since 1978 is 231 million percent. Robert Mugabe has been president since 1978. He is running for reelection this year at the age of 87.

Mugabe finally was forced to resign in November 2017 at the age of 93 and is currently under military arrest. 2013 International Health Organizations through much effort instituted health reforms that reduced drastically the transmission of AIDS from mother to infant and continued efforts have brought the infected rate to 13.7% of the population. In 2017 the life expectancy is age 59 so there has been improvement. Zimbabwe still has a long way to go.

Limpopo, crocodile infested river on the patrolled border between Zimbabwe and South Africa which is the most popular route for starving Zimbabweans looking for work, many die from the crocodiles. Others are caught and placed in refugee camps that are little more than internment camps and still others are simply turned back.

siboyani root, native African plant, the root is dug up and must be boiled 5 hours before it can be mashed in the broth.

mankata root, native African plant, the root is found in swampy areas.

nsimi is a kind of dumpling or bread that is made from cornmeal with oil and water then rolled into balls and eaten dipped into vegetable broth.

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Tinker

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Apple trees from an apple seed will produce an entirely new apple strain. A Fuji Apple seed will not produce a Fuji apple. The only way to ensure that a Granny Smith tree will produce Granny Smith apples is to graft a piece of Granny Smith apple wood into a piece of root stalk. This technique has been practiced since the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and even the Celts. That is why there are so many types of apples. Johnny Appleseed was on a mission to create new fruit when he famously spread apple seeds.

In the town where my office is located, every year we celebrate the Apple Blossom Festival with a parade, ending in the park where all manner of apple products are available and if you drive out to the outskirts of town you will see beautiful orchards of apple blossoms. This is the home of Luther Burbank's Gravenstein Apple. But Golden Delicious grow here equally well.

And thanks to Tony I learned a new word terroir pronounced terr-whaer
Love it.
PS: I make a great apple pie

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Within 3 weeks we have had some far left crazy mailing white powder thought to be risin to Presient Trump, the Pentagon and others and a far right crazy mailing pipe bombs to President Obama, the Clintons, CNN and others. America get a grip. We vote to settle our differences not send poison powder or bombs. Watch for these crazies and help nip this crap in the bud..

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Written in response to last night's senseless slaughter of 12 at a college country music event at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California by a lone gunman who shot strangers simply because he could.
Written in the Burmese verse form Ya-Du only because there is challenge at WCD to write a Ya-Du.

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I certainly had seen him on TV and in news photos and had never thought him to be other than an ordinary looking man. However that brisk morning being surprised by seeing him come down the Capitol steps toward me, I was almost made breathless by his appearance. Very tall, truly towering above those who surrounded him, tan, fit, ruggedly handsome, he really did radiate power and energy.

He had my support after he promoted his "thousand points of light" mantra, encouraging Americans to volunteer service in whatever they felt passion about. We were on the same page.

He was a man of integrity and quiet strength. One could say he was the exact opposite of our current president. He was humble, self effacing, open to both sides of the political spectrum and open to changing his position when it was in the best interest of the people to do so. He wasn't afraid to say he was wrong or that he made a mistake. He negotiated the fall of the USSR and set up a tough budget from which Clinton would reap reward with a balanced budget and surplus. He successfully negotiated bipartisan legislation, more than any president other the Roosevelt. His humor, sense of service and adventure continued to define him long after he left office. Rest in peace President George Herbert Walker Bush.

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"Super moon" A super moon occurs when the full moon is at its closest point to Earth. This means it appears bigger and brighter than usual.

"Blood moon" The term "blood moon" refers to the most exciting part of Sunday's show, the total lunar eclipse. It's called a "blood moon" because, from Earth, the moon appears blood red as it passes into Earth's shadow. It's not an astronomy term but has become a popular term because it's so dramatic, according to AccuWeather and the Old Farmer's Almanac.

"Wolf moon" Every month has special names to describe the full moon. The names originate from Native American folklore, according to AccuWeather. The most widely used name for January's moon is the "wolf moon."

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KonMari is an emerging organizational program sparked by a book, "Spark Joy" by Marie Kondo, a minimalist tidying routine that starts with all items of your clothing being heaped on the floor. Then you take each item, hold it and decide whether or not it sparks joy. If so, you keep it and return it to its proper place, if not you thank it for its service and either donate it or discard it. I did this 2 years ago and cleared bags of clothing from my closets and drawers. I am doing it again and amazingly I already have a full garbage bag to donate elsewhere and I've only just begun. Note: the KonMari laundry folding and storing technique is really great. I've used it for 2 years and when I open a drawer I can see and identify every item in it, making selection very simple. Where was this when I was raising my child? At least I have introduced my grandchildren to it and they don't want their Mom to put their clothes away because she doesn't do it right.

The following are the original poem plus 2 revisions which led to the final product in Member PoetryArlington Park Revision #2

I'd go there in my teens, a space to think,
examine privately my doubts, make plans.
My secret place, alone I'd sit on top
the giant boulder near the hidden trail.
I knew the rock by heart, each pocket, pinch,
each handhold, foothold, where to stretch, to spread.
I had no fear, it wasn't all that tall.
The silence called and I was drawn to its
seductive melody. My song in bloom.
Today, it's gentrified with plastic playground,
groomed flowers, picnic tables, tennis courts,
"clean" bathrooms, and lawn. It is civilized.
No hint of hiking trails or rocks to climb,
they dwell within me now, my place of dreams.
~~Judi Van Gorder

Arlington Park Revision

I'd go there in my teens, a space to think,
examine privately my doubts, make plans.
My secret place, alone I'd sit on top
the giant boulder near the hidden trail.
I knew the rock by heart, each pocket, pinch,
each handhold, foothold, where to stretch, to spread.
I had no fear, it wasn't all that tall.
The silence called and I was drawn to its
seductive melody. My song in bloom.
Today, it's picturesque with plastic playground,
groomed flowers, picnic tables, tennis courts,
"clean" bathrooms, and lawn. It is more civilized.
No hint of hiking trails or rocks to climb,
they dwell within me now, my place of dreams.
~~Judi Van Gorder

I'd go there in my teens, a space to think,
examine privately my doubts and dreams.
My secret place, alone I'd sit on top
the giant boulder near the hidden trail.
I knew the rock by heart, each pocket, pinch,
each handhold, foothold, where to stretch, to spread
I had no fear, it wasn't all that tall.

Now civilized with kid's plastic playground,
groomed flowers, picnic tables, tennis courts,
"clean" bathrooms, and lawn. No hint of hiking trails,
or rocks to climb. No place to think or dream.
~~Judi Van Gorder
Personal note: In my teens, Arlington Park was a bit of wilderness on the edge of a growing suburb. It was pretty much just dirt trails into the hills of El Cerrito. It had some redwoods, scrub brush and an outcropping of huge boulders. My favorite rock was only about 12 ft high and it wasn't terribly steep. I'd go there alone, sometimes with a friend, climb the rock and just sit and talk or think. No way could I climb now. All the kids in my neighborhood climbed those boulders. It was just something we did, It seems in the 40s and 50s, no one worried about the dangers of kids having fun. I googled the park before writing the poem. It is still there but now it looks like any other city park.

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Personal note: Al’s parents would have brought him to the US, around the same time as the attempted genocide. I only remember him as a young man and I’m unsure if I really remember him or remember stories of him. I have old photos of being held by him in his Navy uniform with his arm around his Mom at a backyard Armenian family gathering. I don’t know what happened to him, he may have died in WWII. But strangely, though I was about 3, the photos come alive for me. I remember strange food, his Mama’s broken English and the loud, happy, loving people at the party.

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April 18, 2019 is Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday on which Christian churches Celebrate the Last Supper. (the rite of holy communion is celebrated daily but the full story is not revisited and enacted in the way it is on Holy Thursday.)
Inspired by the accounts of the Last Supper as told in the Gospels.
Opens this week's Tinker's Blog